SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, USA. (AP) — Illinois will soon ban advertising for firearms that authorities determine pose a threat to public safety or attract children, militiamen or others who may later make illegal use of the weapons. The move comes at a time when the state government continues to search for ways to curb mass shootings.
Gun rights advocates say the plan, which Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has vowed to sign into law, is an unreasonably vague executive order that violates not only the constitutionally protected right to own guns, but also freedom of expression. .
The main target of Democratic state attorney Kwame Raoul’s move is the JR-15, a smaller and lighter version of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that is advertised under the banner “Buy ’em one like yours.” The manufacturer claims it deliberately designed it smaller and with added safety features to accommodate younger shooters as they learn from adults how to safely maneuver such a gun. Raoul says it’s marketed to kids in a way that encourages them to dodge adult supervision and start shooting on their own.
Easing lawsuits is part of efforts by Democrats who control the state legislature to stamp out gun violence, made even more difficult by the expansion of gun rights a year ago by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Pritzker also signed a ban on semi-automatic weapons this year, a law that gun-rights advocates continue to challenge in federal courts.
Illinois will be the eighth state to pass a law allowing lawsuits of this type against manufacturers or dealers of firearms. The law follows the deadliest six months of mass killings on record since at least 2006, all but one of which involved firearms.
Raoul finds a precedent in the 25-year deal with Big Tobacco and, more recently, over vaping advertising.
